Bishonen: Zoisite and Kunzito-sama
Show: Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon
Merits: WAAGH!! Oooh, this will be SO much different from when I just saw the dub. Let's see... Kunzite has that deep, sey voice.. but Zoisite is who really won me over the the sub. Read on to know why!
Oooh, there were days when I too did not know the glories of Zoisite as a man. Those days are far gone now, and I can be arrogant and smug as if I had not begged Clay Angel in a very degrading way for the 12 tapes.
Zoisite in the sub is 100x more lovable than Zoisite in the dub. He is one of the mosty ditzy anime males I have ever seen. He is constantly making mistakes, not plot mistakes but silly things such as throwing the dark crystal at the wrong target while riding a merry-go-round. While this may have appeared in the dub as well, something about the voice actor (same person who does Umino, actually. That really threw me for a while.)makes him so much more of a comical figure than in the dub... and while I do not feel that his existance is comic relief as such, he does make a nice change from (Oooh, fogive me here...) sexist-and-vaguely-stoic Jadite and ugly-as-sin Nephrite. *ducks bricks thrown by Nephy fans*
DiC basically killed the character of Zoisite. He was a truely lovable character... so self-absorbed, and yet so obsessed with the approval and affection of Kunzite. For some reason DiC finds it necessary to make all of their villians angry and vicious. And the fact that Zoisite is voiced by and portrayed as a woman shows a complete disrespect to the relationship these two men shared.
I would like to talk for a moment about the death scene. DiC I think did as good a job as they could manage (not saying a lot here, you realize.) but the full impact of the Japanese version takes some thought.
*Zoisite, always concerned with the aesthetics of things, wants to die beautifully. Kunzite waves his arm and the room is filled with flowers.*
Zoisite falls back against Kunzite. "I'm happy... to die here with you," he says, looking up into his lover's eyes.
Kunzite stares down at Zoisite's dying face. There are no words to be said.
Just before he dies, Zoisite says four more words: "I did love you."
Kunzite is left alone in the once again bare room with nothing but the vision of those who had led to the death of proably the closest thing to love he is likely to find in the Dark Kingdom.
I am, of course, over-analyzing here, but give me a moment. The fact that Zoisite's dying words are "I did love you" rather than "I do love you" or "I'll always love you" mean more to me than a possible translation difference or the context.
Since the Kings of the Old Moon Kingdom became servants for the Dark Kingdom, they lost their memory of love, the need for and the ability to. As illustrated by the unpopular (with me) Nephrite and his relationship with Naru-chan, there is a huge barrier for these Lords to even consider the feelings of those around them even when they are staring those they should, in a pure situation, feel nothing for but pure love.
Further proof of this is the fact that Zoisite desires to die prettily. His existance in the Dark Kingdom is empty and worthless. His character is amusing, but if is obvious that he cares more about his appearance than his task; more about looking perfect than surviving without Kunzite's help.
He is identical to the rest of the Lords, indeed, any underling villian you choose to chart during the run of Sailor Moon. It is never the heros who kill them: they either die at the hands of their comrades, by a mistaken use of energy or as punishment for their failure.
How fitting that he should end with "I did love you." Yes, he did- long ago. He knows, he's known, and he's dying. What sweet torture to die in the arms of the man he's loved so completely... so much that the shell of this love has followed them into the cold space of their servitude.
Oooh, I remember why I love Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon.
Out.
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